Abstract

This article investigates the emptying process of a continuous powder mixer, from both experimental
and modelling points of view. The apparatus used in this work is a pilot scale commercial mixer Gericke
GCM500, for which a specific experimental protocol has been developed to determine the hold up in
the mixer and the real outflow. We demonstrate that the dynamics of the process is governed by the
rotational speed of the stirrer, as it fixes characteristic values of the hold-up weight, such as a threshold
hold-up weight. This is integrated into a Markov chain matrix representation that can predict the evolution
of the hold-up weight, as well as that of the outflow rate during emptying the mixer. Depending
on the advancement of the process, the Markov chain must be considered as non-homogeneous. The
comparison of model results with experimental data not used in the estimation procedure of the parameters
contributes to validating the viability of this model. In particular, we report results obtained when
emptying the mixer at variable rotational speed, through step changes.

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

Thanks to Elsevier editor. The original publication is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/